News About Properties

Around Tampa Bay, foreclosure means never having to leave [Central Florida]

When his lender started to foreclose in 2003, Jeffrey De­Mauro appealed for time to resolve his financial problems.

“I sincerely want to work this situation out and get back on track and save my home,'’ De­Mauro wrote to Pinellas County court officials. “I have two children and do not want to be put out of our house and on the street.'’

The DeMauros are still in foreclosure. But by declaring bankruptcy 11 times, they have managed to hang on to their house and to continue living there — seven years after they made their last regular mortgage payment.

Though an extreme example, the couple’s story is an increasingly common one among distressed Tampa Bay homeowners. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, are staying in their houses long after defaulting because they declare bankruptcy, challenge the foreclosure or simply sit back as their cases grind through an overloaded court system.

Mortgage, tax bills ultimately come back to haunt walkaways

While foreclosures and loan modifications have made it tough for overwhelmed banks to go after walkaway borrowers, there’s evidence they are starting to crack down.

Lenders are hiring collection agencies. They also are getting deficiency judgments — court orders that allow banks to collect on mortgage balances. Once an order is in place, lenders can garnish wages, tap bank accounts, seize tax refunds and put liens on other assets to satisfy the debt. These judgments also show up on credit reports.

If the lender sells the home after a foreclosure for less than what is owed on the loan, the bank can come after the borrower for the deficiency balance.

Many states give mortgage holders as long as five years to seek a deficiency judgment. If a judgment is granted, the bank gets up to 20 years to collect and the option to renew for another 20 years if the debt isn’t paid. In Michigan, lenders have six years from the date the last payment was due — or 36 years on a 30-year mortgage, said Southfield real estate attorney John E. Jacobs.

Desperate condo, homeowner groups given new way to grab overdue fees

Revenue-starved condominium and homeowners associations struggling to keep the taps running and the lawns mowed have found a novel way to squeeze money from units that don’t pay what they owe.

It’s called a reverse foreclosure, a tool that can force banks to pay association maintenance fees when unit owners don’t.

It’s a way for associations to halt the decline that begins when one owner quits paying maintenance fees, followed by another, then another, forcing a reduction in general maintenance, driving down property values even more, and leaving a community riddled with vacancies and vandalism.

Also, it’s a way for associations to stick it to banks — who they are convinced have been sticking it to them since the real estate meltdown began.

Bulk Acquisition of Florida Distressed Condominiums

Unbridled development of Florida condominium projects from 2003 to 2007 and subsequent collapse of the residential real estate market have contributed to the latest trend in Florida real estate investment: acquisition of the fractured condominium. Investors in Florida fractured condominiums include a significant number of out-of-state companies. As these investors look to their primary legal counsel for initial guidance on such transactions, this article is intended to introduce the non-Florida attorney to the legal issues and concerns associated with the bulk acquisition of units in a distressed Florida condominium project.1

By 2007, development of condominium projects, both new construction as well as conversion of apartment communities, far exceeded demand. The real estate bubble ultimately burst, leaving in its wake hundreds of failed projects.

Richard White: Reserves help associations, owners plan for the future

Q. I live in a small HOA. In November our board approved the budget for 2010. It included funds for painting, but the painting is not scheduled for three years. The funds are being placed in a line item called reserves for the use of people who are not owners as yet.

Our turnover shows that we will have 30 percent new owners when the painting is scheduled. I read FS 720 about the budget should be each year close to zero dollars.

If we are not painting for three years, the reserves should not be collected as the money can be misused and maybe squirreled away as it cannot be controlled.

Am I correct that this is illegal to force me to pay for future expenses?

For some, mortgage relief ends up costing more

In 2008, Southwest Airlines flight attendant Kevin Parker slammed his shoulder so hard during severe turbulence that he was out of work for months.

His lender, Bank of America, allowed him to skip payments on his St. Petersburg home for 90 days. But when Parker sought a permanent loan modification, he began a journey as bumpy as anything he had encountered in the air.

“I sent the first e-mail probably last February and didn’t get a response, so I started e-mailing every other day trying to talk to someone,'’ Parker says. “Then it seemed like every time I called them, I was turned over to another caseworker who didn’t have the information I had sent.'’

Five months and some 40 e-mails and phone calls later, Parker got the bank to reduce his payments by about $126 a month. But there was a big tradeoff: His late payments were tacked onto the balance, increasing the amount he owes to $157,805 — $10,300 more than he originally borrowed.